Colin Carter: "We won a premiership when we lost Gary (Ablett), and he is arguably the best player in the country, which goes to show that footy life is more complicated than most of us imagined." Photo: Arsineh Houspian

While they have been the fiercest of rivals for seven seasons, with another chapter to be played out at the MCG on Saturday night, there is also great respect between Geelong and Hawthorn.

That's obvious on the field, and also in the manner how each side has dealt with the defection of arguably the best players in the competition in recent seasons.

When the Cats lost Gary Ablett to the riches on offer on the Gold Coast, many in the football world expected the team to slide. The Cats responded the next season with a premiership and remain in contention for another this year.

Where many, including club great Dermott Brereton expected the Hawks to slip having lost Lance Franklin to a staggering nine-year deal from Sydney, the Hawks have gone about their business in such a professional manner that despite a swag of injuries and Alastair Clarkson's illness, they sit third on the ladder.

Cats president Colin Carter said he had nothing but admiration for the Hawks.

"Absolutely, and on top of that [losing Franklin], they have had a truckload of injuries as well. I think they have done tremendously well," he said.

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"We won a premiership when we lost Gary, and he is arguably the best player in the country, which goes to show that footy life is more complicated than most of us imagined.

"I think Hawthorn has done amazingly well. It just goes to enforce the fact that they are pretty formidable in the way they run their club."

Carter said the Hawks' strong season was as much a testament to their coaches and football department as it was the executive and board.

"It suggests they are basically singing off the same hymn sheet. Everybody knows what they are trying to do and they are not cutting across each other - all the things that can cause dysfunction in a club," he said.

"They have had reasons with injuries and things like that for a few wheels to fall off, but they haven't. It's a very good performance."

There is one link in the Ablett and Franklin departures. Both involved Liam Pickering, the former Cat and now one of the AFL's more prominent player managers. Pickering still looks after Ablett but recently split from Franklin.

"I suspect in our case it was the amount of money," Carter said of Ablett's reasoning.

"The thing that I thought that was interesting about our situation, at the end of the day it was such a good opportunity for Gary, people at the club didn't judge him harshly.

"If he had gone for another 10 per cent [in payment] or something like that, I think we would have felt that was hardly justified. He got a standing ovation at our best and fairest when it was known he was going. He made a great contribution to our club, we wish he was still there but we have all moved on."

While the Ablett name was as much a part of Geelong as the Ford Motor Company, Carter believes the Hawks had more reason to be aggrieved as they lost their on-field superstar and an on-field marketing force to a Swans team already in premiership contention.

"Arguably the Ablett name is bigger at Geelong than 'Buddy' was at Hawthorn. But Hawthorn, in one sense, had it tougher," he said.

"We knew we had lost Ablett to the cause of building a new franchise in the northern states, which is hard to accept but the right thing for footy. I think it would have been much harder to accept for us if Gary had gone off to one of the established clubs up there.

"That makes Hawthorn's response really admirable, the way they have knuckled down and had such a good season."

And so have the Cats, sitting in second spot and appearing to hit top form heading into September.

"I am really proud of our guys for our seventh top-four finish in eight years, which is an extraordinary achievement in an era when there is drafts and salary caps," he said.

Ablett and Franklin may be gone but the rivalry between the Hawks and Cats remains as strong as ever. The Hawks finally ended what was dubbed the "Kennett curse" in last year's preliminary final, and would surge to a premiership the next week. The Cats rebounded with a 19-point win in round five this year when Tom Hawkins booted five goals and Steve Johnson was dominant.

"It's the gift that keeps on giving. Most of the games have been a toss up so, presumably, hopefully, this one will be, too. It's a bit like a precursor act to the main thing," Carter said.

For supporters and all football fans, the good news is that it won't be long to wait for that "main" act, for the two clubs are likely to meet again in a fortnight in week one of the finals.